Ashes of Burning Hope
by Ebony Nightinggale
Summary: The shadows beneath her hood shifted and her eyes became clear, red like a cobra framed by golden hawk's hair. "You're a wyvern." She gave me a horified look before her face disappeared into the shadows of her hood and Keyi ran toward the southern hills.
1. Sakkri'a'she

**Disclaimer: I, Ebony Nightinggale, do not own anything from the Kiesha'Ra series, Amelia Atwater-Rhodes does.**

**This takes place not long after the end of Wyvernhail.**

**Ashes of Burning Hope**

Chapter One: _sakkri'a'she_

_I see a girl. She walks from the forest to the market of Wyvern's Court, her face hidden by the hood of her cream colored cape. Golden hair tumbles forth from her hood in waves as she looks left and right out across the market. Though her eyes are hidden, wonder is written all over what was visible of her face._

_And then there was nothing but fire. It eats at the trees and ground devouring everything it touches. The girl stands in the center of the fire, screaming at something, or someone, to leave her alone. She gathers the fire in her hands. It leaves the trees and grass and gathers itself around her. She stops screaming._

_The boy she was shouting at approaches and holds out his left hand to her. I know the name he calls before he speaks it. "Keyi." He calls. The girl takes his hand. And the vision is gone. _

I awoke to some shaking my shoulders, "Hai. Hai, please wake up."

"Nicias?" I opened my eyes and the peregrine prince gave me a slight smile of relief.

"I thought I lost you." He whispered.

"I am sorry to have worried you, my light." I smiled and sat up.

"I need to speak with Salem." He told me, "Will you be alright?"

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. Go have your meeting." Nicias nodded and smiled lightly reassured that I was fine.

"Just don't cause _too_ much trouble while I'm gone."

"So then, no stealing the throne while you're gone?" I teased the peregrine.

"Go ahead and try but it might be kind of hard to steal the throne from the person I'm going to be with."

"Another time then."

Nicias stood and walked toward the door, "See you tonight then?"

"Always."

The peregrine left leaving me alone to ponder my vision.

I had not seen a _sakkri'a'she _in over a month and one of Keyi in longer. What had brought her to me now? She was older in this vision, closer to twelve then the young girl I normally saw. And then there was that boy. I had never seen him before.

I realized as I sat there pondering for awhile that this was getting me nowhere. My mind was just going around in circles asking the same questions over and over again.

Frustrated with my thoughts I decided to take a wake and try to calm my nerves. I was not going to let Wyvern's Court burn after all I'd gone through to save it last time. But first I needed to clear my head and clam down if I was going to figure this out.

I walked through the market watching the birds and snakes go about their business. Occasionally someone would smile or wave at me and I would smile or wave politely back but mostly I walk unnoticed through the market.

Then I saw her. Just out of the corner of my eye but there she stood. I stepped into a shadow and discreetly watched her.

A girl about the age of twelve walked carefully unnoticed through the market, golden hair spilling from the front of the hood of her cream colored cape, which also cast shadows across her eyes.

She suddenly stopped, turned around, and walked a couple steps in the other direction before changing her mind and walking back the way she came.

She walked awhile and I followed her. I do not know what possessed me to do so but I did.

The girl stopped again, this time in front of a baker's stand. She stared at the breakfast pies putting a hand on her stomach. She started searching through the pockets of her pants and cape before sighing and walking on.

I approached the avian baker who was also looking after the girl, "Could I have two of those please?" I asked pointing to the breakfast pies.

"Sure." The baker handed me the pies and I paid for them before hurrying after the girl.

I stopped beside her and she looked at me in surprise as I offered her the breakfast pie. "Here." I said encouraging her to take it. She started bouncing up and down and saying "Thank you!" over and over again I could hardly tell what she was saying. I laughed a little.

As she took the pie from my hand I noticed that the sleeves of her shirt were so long that they reached almost all the way to the tips of her fingers, "Thank you." She repeated as she took a bite of the pie and pure delight shone brightly on what was visible of her face.

I walked beside her in silence watching her eat the breakfast pie and half expecting the world to burst into flames at any minute.

The girl stopped suddenly looking forward with an awestruck look on her face. I followed her gaze.

We were in the center of the market, I realized, and the girl was staring in awe at the wyvern statue in the center of court.

She walked up to the statue and looked up at it with awe. Then she sat down beneath it and savored the last few bites of her pie.

Something about the girl unnerved me. Maybe it was just the way her hood cast shadows across her eyes but something did.

I sat down beside her, "How long have been in Wyvern's Court?" I asked the girl.

"Umm…" She mumbled fiddling with the corner of her cape, "About half an hour."

"You came alone?"

"No," she mumbled shyly, "I was with my big brother but I ran ahead of him in the woods and I guess I got here first."

"What's your name, little one?"

She looked up at me for a moment but her eyes were still hidden by her hood. She looked back down at her lap before answering, "I'm Keyi."


	2. What could have been and what can never

Chapter Two- What could have been and what never will be 

_(Keyi)_

I slipped between two buildings, carefully hiding my face with my hood, and found myself within the market of Wyvern's Court. It was one of the most wonderful places I'd ever been.

I looked over my shoulder at the forest. Big brother would be worried about me but if I went back into the woods to look for him I'd probably just get hopelessly lost and then big brother would never find me.

I needed to find a place within the court where he'd be able to find me.

I started walking down the street.

_Maybe I should wait by where I came in._

I turned around and started walking the other direction.

_But big brother would probably come in the main entrance._

I turned back the other way and set out to find a place to wait for big brother.

Running ahead had been a terrible idea. I knew that big brother wouldn't have been able to run after me and I might never have even made it to the court.

As my foot left the ground the world around me was engulfed in flames. The market was on fire, people were dying all around me, and falcons in the sky.

The world around me returned to normal in a heartbeat, before my foot touched the ground again.

I took a deep breath and shook my head to clear the vision from my mind. I only remained calm because I knew that if I saw it then it could never be on Fate's current course or could have been in the past but could not be now.

I took another deep breath and stopped dead in my tracks. Something smelled so good and I hadn't eaten breakfast.

I searched for the source of the sent and discovered an avian baker's stand. Those breakfast pies looked so good.

I searched through the pockets of my pants and cape looking for anything I could use to buy a pie with and found nothing. Big brother had all of our money. I sighed and walked on.

I had not gone far when someone came up beside me holding out a breakfast pie.

I stared at it for a moment before the woman said, "Here." Encouraging me to take it. She was a cobra, I realized. I started acting like the little girl I should be, bouncing up and down saying "Thank you!" over and over again.

The cobra woman laughed a little as I took the pie from her hand telling her, "Thank you." Again taking a little bite of the pie.

The cobra woman continued to walk beside of me as I looked for a place to wait for brother.

I stopped as a statue came into my view. I was a young woman standing tall and proud with her face turned toward the sky her body sliding into a serpent form with its tail wrapped around the base while great wings grew from her back.

I looked at the statue with awe.

Then all of Wyvern's Court was gone. The valley looked as though the court had never been there. Everything was fresh and green and animals roamed. _Never can be._

Wyvern's Court returned and I sat down beneath the statue to finish my breakfast pie deciding that this would be a good place to wait for big brother.

The cobra woman sat down next to me. She was starting to make me nervous. I rolled my shoulders, discreetly shifting my hood lower over my eyes.

"How long have you been in Wyvern's Court?" The cobra woman asked.

"Umm…" I paused and fiddled with the corner of my cape. "About half an hour."

"You came alone?"

"No." I mumbled, "I was with my big brother but I ran ahead of him in the woods and I guess I got here first."

"What's your name, little one."

I hesitated. Carefully keeping my eyes covered as I looked up at her. I looked back down at my lap before answering her, "I'm Keyi."

And again I saw the fire.

**I would like to personally thank my first two reviewers, Grace Cohen and Faermage-KH Junkie.**

**So thank you.**

**-Ebony-**


	3. Golden Cobra, Black Hawk

Chapter Three- Golden Cobra, Black Hawk 

_(Hai)_

I watched the little girl beside me as she fiddled with the hem of her cape and the wrists of her long sleeves, now more convinced that this was some vision. Though most of my visions didn't eat breakfast pies.

"Do you need anything?" I asked her, unsure of why.

The girl beside me went ridged for a moment before shaking her head as if to clear it. She turned her head ever so slightly toward me, "I'm sorry, did you say something?"

"Do you need anything?" I repeated.

She shook her head, "I'll just wait here for big brother."

That was another puzzling thing. Not only was this Keyi older but she had a brother, an older brother.

"Keyi…" I trailed off as she looked up at me the shadows cast by her hood shifted and of a moment I could see her eyes clearly. Cobra red eyes framed by golden hawk hair. "You're a wyvern." I said as the realization hit me.

The most horrified look crossed her face and Keyi leaped to her feet and sprinted off towards the southern hills.

_(Keyi)_

I ran and ran and ran. I had no idea where I was going I just kept focusing on where I was leaving. The cobra woman would probably want nothing to do with me. I was a mutt, a mongrel, _quemak_. Just some crossbreed that probably shouldn't even exist.

Visions filled my head as I ran but I paid them no mind, focusing on running.

I smacked into something, someone actually. He stumbled forward as I fell back, twisting my ankle as I tried not to fall.

"Are you alright?" The man I'd run into held out a hand to me now.

I ignored it, pushing myself up of the ground and wincing as I put weight on my injured ankle, "I'm fine." I said but I knew he'd seen me wince.

I looked up at him and, just my luck, my hood had fallen back and the man I'd run into was another bloody _cobra_. Today was just not my day.

And to top it all off the man that came up beside the cobra was a bloody _falcon_. What was a freaking falcon doing in Wyvern's Court? I don't know! But it couldn't be good.

I was about to turn and run again but the cobra scooped me up and started carrying me somewhere, "Hey! Put me down this instant!" I felt the spark of fire inside me begin to grow stronger.

"Now, now." The cobra said not giving in to my demand, "That's no way to talk to the Diente, little wyvern."

My jaw dropped and I knew it.

"Salem…" The falcon came into step beside the Diente, "Maybe you should put her down."

"Yeah, I'm fine." I didn't know why I was agreeing with the falcon but right now I would do anything if it meant that the cobra king would put me down and give me time and space to cool the fire inside of me.

"Quite frankly, little wyvern, I don't agree and I'm not letting you now that ankle until a doctor's looked at it."

I sighed. He was _worried_ about me, though I didn't understand why he cared. At lest I knew what he was carrying me for now, "Fine." I crossed my arms over my chest and felt my fire finally cool.

"Just what were you running from the first place, little wyvern?"

"First off, it's Keyi, not 'little wyvern.' And I think it was your sister."

Salem laughed out loud, "You mean you were running from Hai? Well my cousin is rather scary."

"Yes, so scary." The cobra woman I'd spoken to earlier appeared in front of us. She turned to the falcon, "Your mother wished for me to convey her desire to speak with you at your home."

The falcon looked down at me before nodding to Hai and leaving.

"Now then cousin, shall we get this rascal to a doctor before she runs off and hurts herself again?"

"But what about big brother, how's he gonna find me?" I complained.

"We could ask some of the guard to keep an eye out of him." Salem suggested.

"Humph, I suppose that might work." I grumbled shifting position in the cobra king's arms.

"So tell us a little about him then." Hai said calmly, "What's his name, what does he look like, and how old is he?"

I considered for a moment and it seemed like my best option right now just to go along with the cobras, "His name is Chase, he's fifteen, and he's the opposite of me."

"Cobra hair and hawk eyes then?"

"Yes, but he'd probably have his hood up like I did."

Salem nodded and carried me into a building and set me down on a couch. Hai stood in the corner as Salem called a doctor.

The doctor said that my ankle was just twisted and that I should stay off of it for awhile.

I leaned on one elbow against the arm of the couch and pulled my sleeve up as it started to slip down. Unfortunately Hai noticed the gesture. Today was defiantly not my day.

"What are you hiding under your sleeves, Keyi?" The cobra woman asked.

"Nothing!" I answered too sharply and too quickly.

Hai grabbed my arm and pulled up one of my sleeves.

**I would once again like to thank my two (so far) loyal reviewers. (see last chapter for names 'cause I can't remember how to spell them.)**

**You are the wind beanth my wings.**

**-Ebony-**


	4. Burns

**Chapter Four- Burns**

_(Hai)_

Burns. There were awful burns twisting up Keyi's arm. She jerked her arm from my hand and curled up into a ball on the couch, her red eyes peering at me over her knees.

"Keyi… Where did these come from?" Salem asked sitting down on the couch beside her.

"Salem…" I made a motion for him to move away though I don't think he noticed it. I could feel the heat coming from her body.

Keyi buried her face in her knees, "Can I just find big brother and go home, please?" She mumbled. She looked up again and her eyes were filled with tears, "Please?"

"Keyi, what's wrong?" I put my hand on her shoulder.

_A much younger Keyi stood in a forest clearing. Fire and golden colored magic filled the air. I saw the boy from the last vision, which must be Chase, also younger. "Keyi!" He called out her name. He walked toward her, through the fire and magic in the air. He pulled her into his arms and wrapped his golden hawk wings around her._

_The fire faded but the magic didn't just fade like the fire. It went back toward Keyi but met her brother's wings._

**Really short I know, I'm sorry but I need to get something up this week.**

**I would once again like to thank my reviewers. (You know who you are)**

**-Ebony-**


	5. Brother

**Chapter Five: Brother**

_(Keyi)_

I wanted to go home. I wished I'd never begged Chase to bring me to Wyvern's Court. I missed sitting around the fire with big brother at my side and Teresa and Uncle telling stories of an age gone by and Auntie singing her songs and Akiro dancing her magic filled dances while Tris played the flute for her. I missed Audra's hyperactivity. I missed watching Ali and Kia dance for each other and with each other. I missed Tessai bouncing off the walls and Meari's silence and Brian's constant wisecracks. I missed the people who didn't ask questions and left me alone when I was upset. I short I missed _home_.

I wanted to go home. I wanted big brother to hurry up and find me so I could.

_(Chase)_

Finally.

Wyvern's Court loomed before me. I should have made here a long time ago but it was hard for me to travel fast when my bad arm started hurting again, which it did, right after little sister ran off, of course. I just hoped that she'd got here all right. I pulled the hood of my cloak up so that it hid my face and rearranged the rest of it so that it hid the sling my left arm was in from view. I really hoped that Keyi was okay.

I might know the way to Wyvern's Court like the back of my hand but the interior was a different story. I'd made the trip to court with Audra often enough but I rarely went in with her. Convincing Teresa to let us go alone was probably one of the stupidest things that I've ever done and I've done a lot of stupid things.

I walked through the market just as lost as Keyi must have been when she first entered as I tried to recall landmarks that Audra had told me about and tried to look for Keyi's cream colored cape or wavy golden hair. I tried to think of where she might have gone. We hadn't eaten breakfast before leaving so I could try asking someone who sold food.

I ditched that idea after realizing that I was way too scared to try to talk to any of these people. I'm a coward. I really wished that I had brought Audra. Despite her hyperactivity she was much more of a people person then I was. I was never going to find Keyi at this rate. I tucked my good arm in my sling with my bad one, it was a nervous habit that I'd never been able to break.

I found myself in the center of Wyvern's Court at the wyvern statue. I suddenly felt exhausted. I sat down in the shadow of the statue hoping that no one would see me there and closed my eyes. I pulled my hand out of my sling and found it covered in blood. The defiantly wasn't good.

"Hey. Are you alright?" Someone was standing in front of me.

"I'm fine." I replied though unable to completely hide the pain in my voice.

The man in front of me looked down and saw the blood on my hand, "Someone get a doctor!" He shouted.

Then the world went black.

_(Keyi)_

I unburied my face from my knees when someone knocked on the door. "Come in!" Salem shouted at the door.

A guard opened the door, "Sir, we think we found her brother."

"Really? You found Chase!" I tried to stand up but Hai stopped me.

"Well… We think but he kind of dropped out cold in the middle of court."

"WHAT!" I tried to get up again but this time Hai picked me up, "Hey! Put me down! I want my big brother!" I couldn't help it. I started crying into her shoulder.

"Show us to her brother and then find a bird to get Nicias from the northern hills." She told the guard.

The guard nodded and Salem and Hai, carrying me, followed him out the door and down the hall. Hai carried me the entire way.

When we entered the room, the guard left and it was just the three of us and the doctor I started crying again. The figure lying on the bed was defiantly my big brother and his left arm, his bad arm, was bandaged from his wrist to his shoulder.

I buried my face in Hai's shoulder and cried and cried and cried, "I want to go home!" I cried, "I want to go home! I want to sit by the fire in the nest and listen to Teresa's stories and watch Akiro dance and help Brian play tricks on his sister. I want to build sandcastles with Tessai and Meari on the beach and go swimming by the falls. I want to laugh and joke with everyone else as Auntie tries to drug Uncle onto the dais. I WANT TO GO HOME!"

"Shh, shh." Hai whispered in my ear, "It'll be alright." She smiled down at me, "If you'd like I'll make sure your big brother is taken care of and Salem can show you Wyvern's Nest."

I wiped the tears from my eyes, "You just want me occupied so that I'm not in the way but I'm not crying either."

"Maybe." Hai replied.

I looked at Salem, "If it's not a bother to the king and it'll help me keep my mind off unpleasant things then I would like to see this Wyvern's Nest."

_Some things in this world_ _are simple,_

_Most are not._

_For as long as there has been war,_

_There have been those who did not wish to fight._

_The ones who dance with the hope of peace._

_The ones who have danced alone,_

_Here, they do not need to._

_We have been here for as long as there has been war,_

_And there have been the ones who did not wish to fight it._

_If it is peace you seek to dance with,_

_Then dance this dance with sha'Keyi._

_Dance this dance with the ones who dance with hope._

_The words of Teresa Elder,_

_Leader of sha'Keyi._

_Leader of the ones who dance with hope._


	6. Wyvern's Nest

**Chapter Six- Wyvern's Nest**

_(Keyi)_

Fragments of futures where forgotten dreams became reality, forbidden love is made anyway, and shadows of violence stay just that shadows.

Or perhaps fire burning the ground, falcons in the sky, or ageless bloodshed and war reawakened.

So much, so much that could have been and so much of that that's terrible and awful. So many long forgotten dreams that could have changed the world and so much love that will never be.

I buried my face in the cobra king's shoulder as he carried me on his back to the place he called 'Wyvern's Nest.' He's talking lightly to me, probably trying to cheer me up but I'm not listening.

Too much.

I see children who will never be. I see fire taking over the ground. I see…ugh…. I am being to see why big brother was so hesitant to bring me here. Too many people. Too many awful futures that could have been. I had seen plenty of awful things that could have been with Akiro and Tris but this place takes the cake.

I want to go home.

"We're here."

I peeked over Salem's shoulder as we entered the place he called 'Wyvern's nest' and if I thought there were way too many people in one place before I was sadly mistaken. There were more people in Wyvern's Nest then I'd seen in my entire life before coming here. It was ridiculous.

A woman walked up to Salem and I ducked as low as I could without falling hoping that she wouldn't notice me, "Hello Salem." She said, "You seem to have a hitchhiker."

Drat.

Salem looked over his shoulder at me, "What're you hiding for, little wyvern? This is my Naga Rosalind. Rosalind this is Keyi."

I peeked over Salem's shoulder again, "Uh… Hi?"

Rosalind laughed a little, "Hello to you too but may I ask why you are hitching a ride on my mate's back?"

"He won't let me walk." I stated simply.

"And why ever not?"

"She twisted her ankle." Salem answered for me, "The doctor said she should stay off it for awhile."

"Shall we sit her down by the fire then?"

"Yeah, let's do that." I say, I'd do just about anything to get off this cobra's back right now.

The moment Salem set me down by the fire his mate dragged him up onto the dais for a dance. I thanked the gods for the moment of semi-aloneness.

I watched the fire dance its own dance, the entwining hues of reds, oranges, yellows, and blues. I watch and I think. I see not the future but the past. My past.

_Chase hugs me close to him, his already tattered and burnt wings are tucked protectively around me and his left arm hangs limp, burnt and bloody, at his side. "Shh, Hope." He whispers, "It's over. It's alright."_

I curled up into a ball burying my face in my knees as I tried to shake away the memory. I sobbed quietly into my knees hoping no one would notice. That was the day that Chase lost the use of his left arm and it was all my fault.

Someone put a hand on my shoulder, so much for being unnoticed, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." I tell him wiping my eyes with my sleeve hoping he would believe me but no, since nothing is going my way today he sits down right next to me.

"For some reason I don't believe you." The python man says, "What's wrong?"

"None of your business." I snapped at him.

"It might not be my business but sometimes talking helps."

I ignored him and stared back into the fire watching its dance. I buried my face in my knees again and started crying as the next person to cross my mind is my mother and the last thing she ever said to me.

"_Stay away from me, monster!"_

I cried and cried vaguely aware that the python had pulled me into his arms and I was sobbing into his shoulder.

"What happened?" Salem's far of voice asked.

"I don't know." The python answered, "She looked upset so I asked her if she was alright. She said she was fine and the next thing I know she's bawling."

That's about all of the conversation I heard. I just sat there crying my eyes out until I cried myself to sleep.


	7. The Ones Who Dance with Hope

**Chapter Seven- The Ones Who Dance with Hope**

_(Miriam)_

"Come on Vince. Just one dance?"

"I said no."

"Please, for me?"

"I said _no_, Aaron."

No matter how many times I see it, the sight of Aaron Shardae trying to drag Vincent Cobriana onto the dais at the back of sha'Keyi will never cease to amuse me. From what little I know as fact of avian and serpiente society you'd think it would be the other way around. But here, in this nest, where nothing is as it is in avian or serpiente society, the hawk is attempting, and failing, to drag the cobra into a dance.

"Come on. Just one little dance."

"No, Aaron. I'm really not in the mood."

The hawk let go of the cobra's arm and put her hands on her hips, "Well then get in the mood."

"As amusing as the first hour or so of this argument always is, it's getting rather old. Would one of you just give up already?" Maverick, the resident lion, calls from the corner where he's whittling away at a piece of wood.

Aaron and Vincent look his way for a moment before Aaron grabbed Vincent's arm again and the argument continued as it always did. The two of them would continue until someone took Aaron's side and told Vincent that one dance wouldn't kill him or took the cobra's side and told Aaron that she was being annoying. I mostly ignored them after the first five minutes.

"Hey, Miriam." Maverick called me from the corner.

I stand and walk over to him, "Yes?"

"You think you can paint this?" He holds out the half-finished small statue he's working on.

"Yes. But haven't we already done a viper?"

"But not a white one." He points out.

I blush. Being a white viper and not realizing this is slightly embarrassing, "I asked Chase if he could pick me up some more ivory paint from Wyvern's Court while he and Kayi are sightseeing."

"Another contribution to our lovely home."

One of the things I love most about sha'Keyi is the history, every person who has ever lived here has left a piece of themselves behind. Teresa once told us that the founders of sha'Keyi left us the nest itself, the fountain around the spring, and some of the original rugs and pillows that still cover the slate floor. Everyone who has ever lived here has made something and left it, whether a new cushion, rug, blanket, or the little statues the Maverick and I make or something bigger like when we all helped rebuild the dais after the old wooden one collapsed.

"We have fish!" The exited cry drew the attention of everyone currently in the nest, all _five_ of us. "And Meari threw one at Tristin." Tessai, the little albino tiger, came bouncing into the nest carrying the basket of fish over her head and run through one of the curtain-covered doorways into the kitchen.

I turned to the three remaining people at the doorway, "Threw a fish at Tristin?" I inquired to Meari.

The violet-eyed wolf laughed and nodded. I was relived to see Tristin smile too.

"Yeah and it was really funny." Rin said practically jumping up and down, "'specially 'cause Tristin threw it back at her and hit her in the back of the head." The little viper girl was nowhere near as hyper as Tessai but somehow much more talkative, "I gots ta' go now 'cause Terry told me ta' help him an' Lilia in the garden." Rin scampered back outside and then poked her head back in the door, "An' Brian says ta' watch out 'cause one a' these times he's gonna get you." She vanished again.

Meari laughed, took Tristin's arm, helped him over to his usual spot by the fire. The blind raven made it there all right but Meari managed to trip over Rona's sewing basket scattering its contents amongst the floor pillows making the crow incredibly angry because she had to stop embroidering the top sheet of the padded blanket she was making and find it all. Aaron, finally giving up on getting Vincent to dance, came up behind Tristin and whispered the scene in his ear, Maverick and I started laughing our heads off, and Trixie and Tessai poked their heads out the kitchen door. Even Vincent smiled and getting that crazy emotionless cobra to smile was quite a feat. He had been stolid ever since his sister had left sha'Keyi, abandoning her two kids. Rona gathered all her things back into the basket and got back to work triggering everyone else to do the same.

"Hi everybody." Anacona came in followed by her mother, A'shega, and father, Chris. The falcon family, save four-year-old Anacona, had lived here far longer then I. Little Anna was currently learning how to control her magic from her parents and Akiro and Tris, our other two resident falcons… who seemed to be missing.

"Where are Akiro and Tris?" I asked Chris after A'shega went to help Trixie in the kitchen and Anacona went to play with the dolls that Rona made her.

"They said they were going to find Audra, which probably means that she's off getting into trouble.

As if on cue loud laughter could be heard outside the door of the nest however it was not Akiro, Tris, and Audra, though Audra was still there but with Ali and Kia. The hawk and the cobra were laughing so hard that they were leaning on each other for support and Audra was leaning over with her hands on her knees sputtering out, "Did you see the look on her _face_?" between bursts of laughter.

"What's so funny?" Tristin asked from the fire probably thinking about how he was always the last to know anything.

"You'll find out in a minute." Audra managed before she started laughing again.

A burst of falcon magic threw the curtain on the doorway open and knocked the three laughing girls off their feet and a rather wet Akiro burst through the door. "You scum sucking toads!" The white-haired peregrine falcon shouted, "You malignant little fiends! You accursed little-" Tris came up behind her partner and clamped a hand over her mouth.

"Come on, let's go before you break something," Tris grabbed Akiro's arm and started dragging her toward the staircase at the back of the nest, "or someone." Tris muttered.

"Brian, I know you're over there." I shout. My irritating little brother dropped the pillow he was using to try to conceal himself from view.

"When's Keyi comin' back? You never find _her_." Brian stalks off toward the central fire and sits down.

I walk over and put my hands on his shoulders, "That's because Keyi has better hiding spots." Brian just sits there and pouts. Little brothers are so annoying.

_(Rin)_

So, I'm workin' in the garden with Terry an' Lilia. It's a pretty big garden or maybe a real litl' field or maybe a farden or a gield.

Anyway, I was workin' in the garden with Terry an' Lilia when Lilia freaks out. She dropped her waterin' can an' started runnin' back toward home, which is real weird 'cause normally Lilia's the last one ta' leave the garden or farden or whatever.

"Lilia! Lil!" Terry starts shoutin' after her but she keeps goin' an' then Terry runs after her an' I run after Terry. People are so weird.

_(A'shega)_

Trixie, Tessai, and I came out of the kitchen to eat something for ourselves. The circle around the fire is nearly full. David finally came back from where ever he was and the cobra hugged Trixie and said something along the lines of never leaving for so long again. Mari and Allen are back from their 'romantic outing' and the hawk and the sparrow and are sitting together on the far side of the fire. Ali and Kia are leaning against each other's backs with plates of food in their laps occasionally tossing food over their shoulders onto the other's plate. Tris and Akiro have returned Akiro is much drier and seems to be over the whole thing. The only people missing are the three in the garden and Teresa.

Suddenly Lilia bursts through the front door with a horrified look on her face, "Where's Teresa?" The white viper-falcon demands.

Terry and Rin come through the door next, "Lil, what's…"

"Where's Teresa?" Lilia demands again.

"What is it, Lilia?" Teresa appeared at the top of the staircase.

_(Akiro)_

"Chase is hurt." Lilia whispered.

"What!" I, along with everyone else in the nest, shouted. Tris had to grab my arm to keep me from charging out the door right then and there.

Lilia started crying. "It's alright." Teresa whispered crossing the room and pulling Lilia into her arms, "It's alright." She looked around at the rest of us, "Here's what needs to happen. I want you," She stroked Lilia's hair, " Audra, Tris, and Akiro to fly to Wyvern's Court tomorrow morning, a group of traveling dancers, and see if you can figure anything out. Look for dancers, they're always a good source of information. Audra, no goofing off." The falcon-python nodded guiltily, "Akiro, Tris, be careful. There may very well be falcon criminals hiding in the court, the magic of two of Araceli's former Mercy might stand out to them.

"Remember everyone, we are the ones who dance with hope. We are sha'Keyi. We were living in peace before anyone else thought to try to make it. We must be sure that Keyi and Chase are safe."

**I would like to thank my reviewers, I would like to thank my reviewers, I would like to thank my reviewers. That's for this chapter and the past two where I hadn't thanked you wonderful people.**

**_Warning_: Ali and Kia are both girls and they're _together_. You got a problem with that, tough, it's my story.**

**I think I at least mentioned all twenty-seven members of sha'Keyi. If you need help figuring people out or pronouncing names feel free to let me know.**

**Thanks bunches everybody.**

**-Ebony- **


	8. Anhamirak's Fire

Chapter Eight- Anhamirak's Fire 

_(Keyi)_

I awoke in the serpents' nest. I didn't know how long I'd been asleep, only that it must have quite awhile because all the dancers seemed to be asleep, though none of them to close to me. The closest is that python man from before but for now I ignored him. There was something that I needed to do.

I had not been moved from the spot by the fire where I had been earlier and the flames still burned strong. I rolled my sleeve up to my shoulder and reached toward the fire. The flames did not burn my skin or even feel hot. To me the flames felt cold. They wrapped themselves around my arm as if embracing an old friend that had been away far too long. I answered, letting the fire within me travel down my arm and dance with the central fire's flames.

Then Wyvern's Nest was gone.

And I fall.

_I fall though a blood red sky with clouds made of fire instead of water. I snap open my Demi hawk wings and let them catch the hot air like a parachute. I drift on the scalding wind through the fire filled sky over a sea of blood. The land that appears on the horizon is burning. The grass and trees are dead and dry and the inferno consumes all._

_I land in the blaze. The fire surrounds me but does not harm me but embraces me like an old friend that has been away far too long. I lock my reason for coming and my brother's face in my mind as the flames whisper,_ "Master…" _They hiss,_ "Don't leave again, master…"

_I ignore the hissing flames and instead make a demand of my own,_ "Take me to me brother!" _The flames hiss and grow as if to deny me but then they part before me making a path burnt land and ashes._

_I run._

_I run through corridor of fire. The air itself feels now as though it is on fire and the flames around me now scream but I don't listen. I run. The flames suddenly shoot up in front of me and I skid to a stop. I peer through the flames and scream when I see what is beyond them._

_Chase, my big brother, lies face down in the ashes. The fires surround him threatening to engulf him. I scream. I tear at the fire with all my might and magic until the ground around me is nothing but ashes for nearly a hundred feet and I run. I run to my brother._

_The teasing fire leaps up between me and Chase,_ "Ah, but master… Do you really need him?" _The flames tease, inching closer to my brother._

"Chase!" _I scream, praying that he'll hear me,_ "Big brother!"

_He moves. Brother pushes himself off the ground with his good arm,_ "Keyi!" _He staggers backward as the laughing flames inch toward him._

"Chase!" _I scream reaching my hand through the flames. They burn me now but I don't care. Chase reaches for my hand and takes it without hesitation. The flames between us are gone, dispersed by our combining magics._

_Chase pulls me into his arms and drapes his tortured wings around me, wrapping me in a feathery cocoon, protecting me from the fire around us. _"Thank you, Keyi." _He whispers._

_And we rise up from the world of fire._

I opened my eyes and I was back in Wyvern's Nest with my hand still in the fire. I pulled my hand from the fire and examined the new burn around my arm. It was not as bad as I had feared it would be and it wouldn't look half as bad once I get Lilia to look at it. I pulled my sleeve back down to hide the burn and stood up. I walked to the door of the nest carefully picking my way through the piles of dancers sleeping on the floor.

It was dark outside. It hadn't been when I'd first gotten to the nest so that must have been quite awhile ago. I reached my arms up to the sky and changed shape. My cobra body was golden instead of the usual black and my wings were incredibly dark gray and marked like a hawk's in black.

I flew over Wyvern's Court following the path that Salem had taken me to the nest on and landed returning to human form in front of the building. I managed to slip into the building unnoticed and followed the hallways I remembered the cobra king taking. I knocked on the door of the room that I was positive my big brother was in.

That falcon from earlier, Nicias, or something like that. "What are you-"

"Is big brother up yet?" I interrupted him. I looked past falcon dude and there, pushing himself up on the bed, was big brother.

**Hi everybody. Two things- One, I'd like to thank you all yet again and two, I'm trying to think of a better summery and any advice is greatly appreciated.**

**Thank you all.**

**-Ebony-**


	9. Reunion

**Chapter Nine- Reunion**

_(Chase)_

When I opened my eyes the first thing I thought I was going to do was throw up. However that urge was quickly replaced with a 'where the bloody heck am I and why the bloody heck am I here' sense of dread. I tried to shove myself off the bed but someone else shoved me back down. _Lilia? No, she's not here. Then, who?_

"You need rest." A woman's voice, half calm, half uncaring, said. I looked up at the woman. She had black hair and red eyes, a cobra.

_Red eyes… Keyi!_ I tried to shove myself up off the bed again but the cobra woman stopped me again, "Who are you and where's my little sister?"

"Keyi's fine so calm down. You have a fever and getting excited won't help that any." The cobra woman answered, "And I'm Hai."

There was a knock on the door and a man I hadn't noticed before opened it, "What are you-"

"Is big brother up yet?" A familiar little voice interrupted him. I tried to sit up again but before Hai could push me back down I was tackled back down onto my back.

"Hey, pipsqueak." I said spitting strands of golden hair out of my mouth.

Keyi looked at me with tear-filled eyes, "I was really worried about you, big brother."

"You don't need to worry anymore, that's my job, I'm fine."

She gave me a defiant look and put her hands on her hips, " Like I'm supposed to believe that? Everyone at home says that even if you were bleeding to death you'd still say you were fine."

"Speaking of home," Hai asked, "where is 'home.'"

Keyi looked at me and I nodded, "Sha'Keyi." She answered, "Teresa said that our dad named me after it."

"Who are you're parents?" She directed this question to me.

"Our dad died not long after Keyi was born and our mother-"

Keyi cut me off crossing her arms over her chest and wrinkling up her nose in disgust, "Is a scum-sucking toad-bellied pig."

**Hi there everybody. I'm going to answer some questions from Wishiwasaneagle because they might clear some things up for everyone.**

**Yes, Keyi is real and not just a vision.**

**It's only been a couple months since the end of Wyvernhail.**

**Oliza and Betia are still with the Obsidian Gild.**

**You will find out more about Keyi and Chase's parents in the near future.**

**Please excuse the short chapter and thank you all for sticking with me this far.**

**-Ebony-**


	10. Home

**Chapter Ten- Home**

_(Keyi)_

"You need to sped less time around Akiro when she's in a bad mood if you're going to start talking like her."

"Actually, I heard Uncle say that."

"When does Uncle talk like that?"

"When he thinks that nobody's listening."

"Excuse me a minute." Hai interrupted turning to me, "Keyi, may I ask why your mother is a 'scum-sucking toad-bellied pig?'"

"She ditched us, that's why."

"_Stay away from me, monster!"_ Those words had haunted me every day for the past eight years and… I was starting to cry again.

Chase pushed himself off the bed again and wrapped his good arm around me guessing at where my thoughts had taken me, "It's all right, Keyi." He whispered, "It's all right."

"No it's not." My whisper is barely audible, "There's nothing right about it."

"Maybe we should switch to a more pleasant topic." Falcon dude mumbled to Hai.

"Why don't you tell us something of your home?" Hai asked sweetly trying to lighten the sullen mood that had fallen over the room.

I thought of the funniest thing I could, "Have _you_ ever seen a hawk have to physically drag a cobra up onto a dais and then still not be able to get said cobra to dance?"

Hai smiled a bit, "Can't say I have."

"It happens everyday at home." Chase said with a slight smile recalling the many arguments between our aunt and uncle on that matter.

"May I ask what kind of cobra doesn't like to dance?" Hai asked.

"The grumpy kind." I replied, "Once, Miriam called him 'Mister Grumpy Pants.'"

"Then all the younger members of our home, Keyi included, called him that for the rest of the month." Chase added.

"And Aunt Aaron still calls him that."

"Why is he so grumpy?"

"Because his sister's a scum-sucking toad-bellied pig."

"Keyi!"

"What? He said it first."

Chase sighed.

"Keyi, why don't we let your brother rest tonight and we'll find a way to get the two of you home tomorrow?" Hai said holding her hand out to me.

"Why not now?" I asked impatiently.

"It's the middle of the night." Hai replied, "What's wrong with tomorrow?"

"Here we go again." Chase mumbled.

"Tomorrow will never be." I began, "It quite simply does not exist but for in our minds. The day after today is tomorrow and when tomorrow comes it will be today and the day thereafter will be tomorrow. Thus it never comes and is always out of reach. Tomorrow will never be just like yesterday is past and gone and will never be again." Hai and falcon dude were both staring at me and I was pretty sure that Chase was trying not to laugh, "What?"

"In the morning then." Hai said in response to my little rant.

I crossed my arms back over my chest, "Fine."


	11. Wyvern's Court

**Chapter Eleven- Wyvern's Court **

_(Lilia)_

I was going to faint. Too many people. Why was I even here?

'_Chase is hurt. You're the doctor.'_ Akiro's voice whispered through my thoughts.

_You could at least ask before answering questions that I'm not even technically asking!_

I heard Akiro laugh before her presence left my mind.

When we reached Wyvern's Court Akiro made the executive decision to split up, which didn't help my already crazy nerves at all. She had gone with Tris and I was stuck with Audra… Who had vanished!

I spun around hoping to catch sight of her but she was nowhere to be seen. _Oh gods, Audra! Where are you?_ I was hyperventilating now. _Where is she? Where is anybody?_

I was enough of a freak looking like a white viper in the middle of these people and now I was having a panic attack.

'_Lily!'_ It was Tris, _'Are you alright? Audi said she lost you.'_

SHE_ lost _ME_! I was following her and she vanished into thin air! Oh gods help._

'_All right. Try to stay calm. We're coming.'_

_O-o-k-kay._

Calm was defiantly something I could _not_ do right now. Too many strange people. I was starting to get claustrophobic. I was getting a really bad headache.

Too… many… people… not… enough…air…

I heard someone shout, "Lily!" from across the court.

And the world turned black.

When I opened my eyes again Akiro was looking down at me with worried eyes that falcon magic made look green instead of the near colorlessness they normally held.

Tris and Audra were running over as I slowly sat up. Tris's eyes looked green like Akiro's instead of their usual gray and it was odd seeing them both with black hair instead to the usual white like mine.

Tris helped me to my feet as I realized that half the market was staring at us making me feel dizzy again.

"Okay." Akiro said sounding out of breath, "Audi comes with me and Tris takes Lily back out into the forest to get some air."

"Sounds good to me." I said leaning on Tris and glaring at Audra.

"Sorry 'bout losin' you Lil." Audra said twirling a strand of hair around her finger.

"Right. Fine." I looked at Tris and then around at all the people still staring at us, "Can we go now? Please?" Tris nodded.

"Is everyone alright over here?" A calm voice asked. We all turned toward it.

It was a freaking _falcon_! Okay, I know that Teresa warned me that there would be falcon's hiding in Wyvern's Court but there is a difference between 'hiding' and standing there looking just like they were. And he looked too much like crazy Araceli for my sanity.

I felt the blood drain from my face and I fainted… again.

**Sorry for the delay everybody. I have procrastination issues and then got sick but I shouldn't be making excuses and you have your chapter now (even though it's short) so everybody's happy.**

**Thank you all, readers and reviewers.**

**-Ebony-**


	12. Falcon's in Court

**Just to warn everybody I'm trying Nicias's POV so sorry in advance if it's bad.**

**Chapter Twelve- Falcons in Court**

_(Nicias POV__**)**_

It was early in the afternoon when some of the guard came to me with something about a white viper in the market. I didn't think it was a very big deal but then they told me that the girl looked like she was going to faint. Deciding that we didn't need two people passing out in the market within a day of each other I thought I'd check it out.

_Falcons._ I stopped and looked around. _Three, maybe four…at least three._

I saw two of them over by a flute maker's stand. The pair of them looked like ordinary viper dancers to the rest of the world but I could see the falcon magic that hid them. They were also arguing about who had to pay for the flute that one of them intended to buy.

"I did _not_ wreck the other one. _You're_ the one who left it so close to the fire." One of them was saying.

"Oh, and how exactly was it again that it ended up _in_ the fire?" The other replied. The first's mumbled response was too quiet for me to hear from the distance I was at.

As I thought about how to approach the pair the argument was apparently settled because the first of the falcons seemed to be in a worse mood and the second was being handed a flute case by the amused looking flute maker.

As the second slid the flute case into the bag she had slung over her shoulder a third girl, who looked like a python, approached. I could tell that she had falcon magic, though I couldn't see any hiding her, which led me to believe that she might be of mixed blood.

I got a little closer to see if I hear what they were saying. The first thing I heard was the first two falcons shout, "YOU _WHAT?_"

"I…uh… kind 'a lost Lil."

The first grabbed the third by the shoulders and started shaking her, "How could you do that? You know how she is with crowds!"

The second pulled them a part, "How about you stop shouting and we go find her then? Quickly." The other two nodded and she turned to the third, "Now then, where did you lose her?"

"Over that way… somewhere." The third pointed in the direction that she had come from.

"Well then, let's _go_!" The first grabbed the other two and dragged them off in that direction.

I followed them from a ways away.

"Lily!" I heard on of them shout and the first ran to where out of the corner of my eye I saw a girl with white hair fall to the ground.

The falcon caught the girl before she hit the ground. The girls eyes fluttered open again and the falcon breathed a sigh of relief as the other two ran over. The girl slowly sat up and the second falcon helped her to her feet.

"Okay." The first falcon said sounding slightly out of breath, "Audi comes with me and Tris takes Lily back out into the forest to get some air."

"Sounds good to me." The white haired girl said leaning on the second falcon for support and glaring at the third.

"Sorry 'bout losin' you Lil."

"Right. Fine." The girl said looking at the falcon she was leaning on and then the crowd of people that had begun to gather, "Can we go now? Please?" The falcon nodded.

I decided that if I was going to talk to them that now was the time so I approached with the poise of a guard, "Is everyone alright over here?" I asked calmly.

The white haired girl's head snapped toward me. I saw the fear in her eyes before her face grew even paler and she fainted. Luckily the falcon she was leaning on caught her.

The first falcon was instantly in my face, falcon magic flaring around her so strong that I wondered for a moment if the serpents around us could feel it. "What is your problem!" She shouted in my face.

"Um… I'm sorry?"

"You'd better be, buster!"

"Akiro!" One of the others shouted. Well that was one name. The angry one's Akiro.

The falcon that bought the flute walked up beside Akiro leaving the girl who'd fainted under the watch of the python girl, who I was still assuming to be mixed blooded. "Akiro..." She said in a calmer warning tone.

"Tris…" Akiro hissed as Tris moved to her side. Falcon magic moved between them in such a way that it could only have been the bond between Mercy. _Araceli's_ Mercy. I was instantly on guard and the two of them noticed.

"Calm your royal butt down!" Akiro snapped at me. Tris smacked her on the back of the head. I quietly wondered what falcon in their right mind, save maybe Darien, who would tell someone they knew to be of royal blood to calm their 'royal butt' down.

"Maybe we should talk about this somewhere else?" The python girl said, now standing holding the other, still unconscious, girl in her arms and looking around at the crowd we seemed to be attracting.

"Yes, let's." I said trying to sound reasonable.

Akiro just growled at me.

**I'm really, really, really sorry that I'm a lazy bum and that this took me so freaking long to update and that it's kind of short.**

**I would like to thank anybody that hasn't given up on me (even though I couldn't exactly blame you if you had.) Oh, and I'd like to thank everybody who reviewed the last chapter.**

**I'm really sorry that my chapters are taking so long but I've kind of hit a wall (like… the Berlin Wall. Though hopefully I'll manage to get over it without getting shot.) My other story's not exactly doing so hot right now either and I'm also trying (and, at the moment, failing) to rewrite three of my original stories, which kind a' take priority… so again, sorry.**

**Thanks for sticking with me.**

**-Ebony-**

**P.S. I was going to post this yesterday but my dad was swearing at the computer and I was afraid to leave my room.**


	13. Insomnia

**Sorry if there's any confusion but this chapter actually takes place the night before Akiro, Tris, Audra, and Lilia went to Wyvern's Court. I probably should have posted it first but I didn't think of it until now. (Spell check doesn't like any of those names.)**

**Chapter Thirteen: Insomnia **

_(Hai POV)_

"You're a really bad actor you know." Keyi was curled up on the couch. Her wavy blonde hair was falling in front of her face but I was pretty sure she was asleep. Her brother was a different story. Chase was lying flat on his back on the bed with his left arm now in a sling. I was positive he was awake.

"Is it really the obvious?" He asked using his right arm to push himself into a sitting position despite the numerous times that I've told him to lay still.

"Yes." I crossed the room and sat down on the edge of the bed, "How's your arm."

"Fine."

"I do believe that your sister said something about how you'd say you were fine even if you were bleeding to death." He glared at me, "Mind if I look?"

Chase glared at me again before rolling his eyes and muttering, "Fine."

"That's your favorite word, isn't it?" He looked away and scowled at the wall on the other side of the room. I carefully took his left arm from the sling and undid the bandages around it. The angry burn scars I'd seen before had almost completely vanished, which was more then a little odd. "I'd ask what happened to it but I have a feeling that you won't tell me."

"Your feeling would be correct."

"How much mobility does it have? Will you tell me that?"

He still continued to stare at the wall looking like he was deep in thought. He rolled his left shoulder and balled his hand into a fist, "That's it."

"That's it?" I repeated his words.

"Yep." He took his arm back from and put it back in the sling using his other hand. Then he just sat there looking at me like he was pondering asking a question.

"Is there something you want to ask me?"

"You're not really a cobra, are you?"

That caught me slightly off guard, "Is it really that obvious?" I asked mimicking his words from earlier.

"Yes. Your hands, feel like ice."

"Ah, let's just say I'm a mixed blood falcon-cobra who, in a bizarre twist of events, lost Anhamirak's power." He scowled at me, "You get a story when I get a story."

"Fine." He lay back down a pulled the bed sheets over his head.

"What are you doing?" I asked standing.

"Going back to sleep."

"Or going back to pretending to sleep?" I asked sitting back down in the chair on the other side of the room.

"How about _trying_ to sleep."

"Fine."

"Fine."

I watched as his breathing became deep and even and his death grip on the sheet he'd pulled over his head loosened.

I didn't notice the pair of worried cobra red eyes watching me from their hiding place behind wavy golden hair.

**Chase is kind like me in the way he'll stay up all night worrying and has a tendency to dwell on the bad things.**

**Again I will apologize for taking so long. (And my laziness and procrastination issues.)**

**School is now out and I'm an antisocial turtle who hides in her room all day so hopefully I can start updating faster. Unfortunately, the virus protection on my laptop expired (in, like, January and I'm to lazy to ask my dad to update it) I have to venture out of my hidey hole and go in the family room with all the (computer hogging) members of my family. So we'll just have to wait and see how that goes.**

**Thank you to all readers and reviewers,**

**Ebony**


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